Transcript
This is a rush transcript. If you notice any errors please report them using the “Help improve this post” link at the bottom of this post.
News Anchor: Live by telephone, good morning, Congressman Paul, thanks for getting up early and coming on with us. We appreciate it.
Ron Paul: Good morning, good to be with you.
News Anchor: We talk to you all the time when you’re on about the Federal Reserve, and I actually may get to that in a moment, but I wanted to ask your view on FEMA in the wake of what’s happened with hurricane Irene before we get that to that. You, from what I’ve read and what I’ve seen in your comments, think we’d almost be better off without this agency which was set up to help out with disasters. But tell us your own view, before I put words in your mouth, about what should happen with FEMA?
Ron Paul: Well, during the 1970s, FEMA was created by an executive order by Carter. I was in the Congress at the time, and I opposed it because I thought it was bad economic policy to have government buy insurance for people because they couldn’t afford it in low areas, which to mean meant that they would encourage more building and take more risks. Insurance is a good idea because it tells you how much risk you’re taking, but once you destroy the principle of insurance, you invite more trouble, and we’ve been doing it, it’s been very, very expensive. And we’re not only as a country broke, but FEMA is broke too. So economically I think it’s a very bad thing to do. But the big problem is people like to pull that stuff up, you know, all of a sudden they see a lot of suffering and a lot of problems and they think, “Well, this is the only way you can do it”. The government actually makes problems worse so often rather than solving problems. FEMA’s really an inefficient agency when you look at it in detail too.
News Anchor: Well, it may be, but what about the people up in just one isolated area in Vermont today, for example? And I bring up Vermont because we were talking, just in the last hour, to one of the emergency management officials up there and they were telling me about all these towns that are isolated. And I said to him at the end of the interview, “How are you paying for this?” And he said, “We’re getting a lot of help from the federal government to do it”. A lot of these states, as you know, are strapped for cash, doesn’t FEMA help out in this particular situation when things are so bad.
Ron Paul: You don’t think the federal government is strapped for cash?
News Anchor: Well, of course it is.
Ron Paul: They don’t have any money at all, every penny we spend we borrow. So this whole thing about states being strapped for cash…. Of course, sure there is a humanitarian concern that people have. Matter of fact, I’ve been very open to taking care of these problems even though in principle I think it was in the wrong direction, because I live on the coast and we have hurricanes here and in my district. But I’ve had this position all along and yet the position really is a very popular position because the people get so disgusted with FEMA. I’ve had more complaints about FEMA than all the other agencies of government put together.
News Anchor: I can understand it from an ideological point of view, but you’re saying in these situations we have to help the people?
Ron Paul: Yea, and this is what I would do, and this is what I proposed in the past: is since we don’t have any money in the bank and it’s a very, very serious economic problem that we face, I say cut spending someplace. Cut enough where you can cut some deficits, such as overseas. Just think of the 1.4 trillion dollars we’re spending to maintain an empire. I can find 5 billion dollars pretty easily; put half of it towards the deficit and put half of it towards our infrastructure. So yes, I understand how we get … I mean just think of all the programs that are technically unconstitutional in this country that people are so dependent on; whether it’s medical care for the elderly or whatever, and yet there is no money. So I would say that if you care about the economy and if you think there’s any concern at all about our economic system and our financial system, we have to quit some of this spending. So all I’m saying is use some commonsense, take care of these people, save the money, cut the deficit, and I think the world would be better for it.
News Anchor: A quick question on the Federal Reserve, just to change topics on you real quick, Congressman Paul. A lot of people pointed to the markets this morning and it’s what we’re covering and saying. “The Federal Reserve might take even more action”: that seems to be their takeaway from watching Ben Bernanke make his speech last week and the minutes of the meeting that were released yesterday. Your thoughts, being a long time critic of the Fed, in terms of more action that can be taken to help the economy?
Ron Paul: Well, I think they take action steadily, you know, he announced that he would keep interest rates down to practically 0% up until 2013. Well, that’s major action. He doesn’t call it QE, but in a way it is. How do you keep interest rates down that low? You have to steadily buy debt. He has guaranteed that there would be no relinquishing on his efforts to continue the monetization of debt, so that’s it, that’s how we got into trouble. Even when Greenspan was in, it was said that he kept interest rates too low for too long. Well, that was in a way a quantitative easing. That’s all the Fed can do, they do it steadily, that’s the only tool that they have and at times they have surges in their buying of debt and in injecting more money. But the problems are always there, it’s always covered up, and that is the problem, it cannot be a solution.
News Anchor: How would a President Ron Paul work with Ben Bernanke, because as critical as you’ve been, you guys would be stuck working together if you were elected, Congressman Paul, wouldn’t you be?
Ron Paul: Yea, I thought the Fed was supposed to be independent, that’s what they argue all the time. Of course, the President always works with them. And it isn’t Bernanke himself that’s the problem, it’s the system. It’s the system that you have of no restraints on monetary authority, which means you have no restraints on spending because the Congress does not have to be responsible. So in a way, Bernanke was somewhat correct the other day when he said, “I throw up my hands, I can’t do it anymore, it’s all up to the Congress”. But he could do a lot more. Congress should quit spending and then they don’t put the pressure on the Fed to monetize. But if the Federal Reserve was not allowed to monetize, the Congress would see the interest rates rising and there would be an automatic check on it. So no, Bernanke, you’re not supposed to run the Federal Reserve, that is all a farce. They complained and I always argued that they’re independent, but it’s the system that you have to address and someday we’ll have to. Not because all of a sudden people will gain wisdom, but because this system is on its last legs. The dollar reserve standard of the world is failing and that’s why the world is in chaos.
News Anchor: Let me ask you a little bit about the campaign then. You’ve had success certainly in Iowa in the straw poll, and we were talking earlier about how you’ve moved up in some of the other polls. It will be interesting to see – and we talk about this all the time -how the campaign develops over time. People always try to make it into top tier and bottom tier; all this kind of handicapping so early in the race. But how do you see it developing, because inevitably somebody is going to drop out, it already happened with Tim Pawlenty. As that happens, do supporters of certain candidates go to you? Or is this theory that some have thrown out correct that the supporters that Ron Paul is going to get already support him, it’s such a strong base of support. But how will you be able to expand upon that base?
Ron Paul: All I know is my job is to keep doing what I have been doing for 30 years, and all of a sudden there has been a surge of interests in what I’ve been doing, and there’s certainly a need. The people are tired of the wars, they know there’s something wrong with the Federal Reserve, they know the spending is a tremendous hazard to us, so people are coming over. And the one thing that all the polls show is that if you are a Ron Paul supporter, you usually don’t leave, so there’s no bouncing up and down. With the other ones, you know, there’s a lot of shifting around. So when new people enter the race, they say, “Oh, what’s he going to do to him?” Well, it doesn’t do anything to me, it just dilutes the other field. But I think we have steady growth, that’s about all I can say, and it’s been that way over many years and certainly over the last 4 years we have seen this happening.
News Anchor: Well, let me follow up on that point because you’re probably right about that in terms of you’re not losing support. So let’s say Rick Perry enters the race or whoever might still make a late entry into the race, you don’t necessarily lose any of your core supporters there. But when someone leaves the race, are you able to kind of broaden the scope enough or be attractive enough to people who don’t currently support you and may support somebody else who’s still running but will still at some point drop out? For example, a Pawlenty supporter coming to you; do you see enough of that or will you be able to do enough of that?
Ron Paul: Well, it remains to be seen, but yes we see it all the time because that’s where our growth would have to come from, but I don’t know if anybody can actually measure that. We’re always reaching out to people and the longer the time goes on, the more appropriate our view seems to be.
News Anchor: Alright, Congressman Paul, it was good to talk to you again. We’ll check back as the campaign continues. Thanks for coming on.
Ron Paul: Sure thing.
News Anchor: Congressman Ron Paul running for President on the Republican side.
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Everyone speaks well of the bridge which carries him over.
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Your blog is great and i also know Allen always adds balsamic vinegar to his soup.
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I’ve said that least 1141369 times. SCK was here
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Wow that was strange. I just wrote an very long comment but after I clicked submit my comment didn’t show up. Grrrr… well I’m not writing all that over again. Regardless, just wanted to say great blog!
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- But Paul doesn’t have a strong grasp of the issues, plus no experience to implement them, so I think you mis-typed… you meant Obama would destroy Paul in a debate. So learn to proofread before posting.
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Support Dr. ‘Sir’ RON PAUL 2012
Welfarism: Give Jack a fish and he wont go hungry today
Freedom: Teach Jack to fish, he will never go hungry!
#UNOCCUPY BIG GOVT.AND THE FED **AMERICA vs MEDIA**
FIGHT MEDIA BLACKOUT SPREAD RON’S ‘WHAT IF’ AND ‘IMAGINE’ SPEECH ON IPAD,IPOD
Check Nigel Farage vids taking EU govt. to task
Please vote on vids and comments, Your opinion matters!
Write on dollar bills : IN RON WE TRUST ! END THE FED OR FEED THE END
Click like to support ♥ RON PAUL ♥
»crosslinked«
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During this bottom of the bucket candidate era, Ron Paul is looking like a shining star to more and more ppl. The more attention given to him in different media outlets is just an obvious boost for his support base.
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I agree. Dr. Paul’s district in Texas is mostly minority and democrat and he still gets over 60% of the vote every time. I know plenty of democrats who would crossover to vote for him and the independents will vote for him since they are so upset with Obama. Any other GOP candidate will lose to Obama hands down. I tell people a vote in the GOP primary for anyone but Dr. Paul ensures an Obama victory in 2012.
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When I see his face in this video; I look into the future and see him as our president with a better, greater, and more prosperous, freer country!! He will be our next president! I also see his face carved into stone with a monument dedicated to this movement/revolution of 2012…perhaps they might squeeze him on Mount Rushmore??! ;D
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Everyone,Go here and vote Ron Paul: foxnews (dot) com/on-air/oreilly/index.html Bill O’Reilly will be reporting the winner on his tv show, let’s get Ron Paul some Publicity. Thumbs this up.
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I hope that you can move soon. That is a great idea. I also hope you can find forgiveness for those that have hurt and are hurting sometime down the road. There were some black kids playing ball with some other kids afterwards they were coming to where I was to get to their car. I wasn’t expecting anything, and one of them said, “Whats up?” I wasn’t expecting it and I felt foolish for believing there was a barrier between us. Change starts with us. All the best to you.
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I hope that you can move soon. That is a great idea. I also hope you can find forgiveness for those that have hurt and are hurting sometime down the road. There were some black kids playing ball with some other kids afterwards they were coming to where I was to get to their car. I wasn’t expecting anything, and one of them said, “Whats up?” I wasn’t expecting it and I felt foolish for believing there was a barrier between us. Change starts with us. All the best to you.
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I hope that you can move soon. That is a great idea. I also hope you can find forgiveness for those that have hurt and are hurting sometime down the road. There were some black kids playing ball with some other kids afterwards they were coming to where I was to get to their car. I wasn’t expecting anything, and one of them said, “Whats up?” I wasn’t expecting it and I felt foolish for believing there was a barrier between us. Change starts with us. All the best to you.
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I hope that you can move soon. That is a great idea. I also hope you can find forgiveness for those that have hurt and are hurting sometime down the road. There were some black kids playing ball with some other kids afterwards they were coming to where I was to get to their car. I wasn’t expecting anything, and one of them said, “Whats up?” I wasn’t expecting it and I felt foolish for believing there was a barrier between us. Change starts with us. All the best to you.
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I hope that you can move soon. That is a great idea. I also hope you can find forgiveness for those that have hurt and are hurting sometime down the road. There were some black kids playing ball with some other kids afterwards they were coming to where I was to get to their car. I wasn’t expecting anything, and one of them said, “Whats up?” I wasn’t expecting it and I felt foolish for believing there was a barrier between us. Change starts with us. All the best to you.
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I hope that you can move soon. That is a great idea. I also hope you can find forgiveness for those that have hurt and are hurting sometime down the road. There were some black kids playing ball with some other kids afterwards they were coming to where I was to get to their car. I wasn’t expecting anything, and one of them said, “Whats up?” I wasn’t expecting it and I felt foolish for believing there was a barrier between us. Change starts with us. All the best to you.
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This poisonous pedagogy is cycled from one generation to the next. It is cultural where hope is gone, and there is a strong identity of victim-hood where things are expected to be given to them, because there is no belief in self-reliance. There are few role-models and Uncle Sam enables the hell out of every one’s sickness/dependence, because there is big big Business in us all falling apart. You are on the front lines, but from back here I can see that it goes beyond race.
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This poisonous pedagogy is cycled from one generation to the next. It is cultural where hope is gone, and there is a strong identity of victim-hood where things are expected to be given to them, because there is no belief in self-reliance. There are few role-models and Uncle Sam enables the hell out of every one’s sickness/dependence, because there is big big Business in us all falling apart. You are on the front lines, but from back here I can see that it goes beyond race.
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Uncle Sam, gave a hand-me-out to people in order to get votes and to keep people down. I have had a few incidences of racial prejudice, but it wasn’t enough to fuck with me. However when it did happen it stayed with me for months and some years, but things are better up here Kentucky. I know perpetrators are really unconscious to other people, because they themselves are unconscious. I don’t mean knocked out, but without empathy. One day people will understand RP’s brilliance
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Uncle Sam, gave a hand-me-out to people in order to get votes and to keep people down. I have had a few incidences of racial prejudice, but it wasn’t enough to fuck with me. However when it did happen it stayed with me for months and some years, but things are better up here Kentucky. I know perpetrators are really unconscious to other people, because they themselves are unconscious. I don’t mean knocked out, but without empathy. One day people will understand RP’s brilliance
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Uncle Sam, gave a hand-me-out to people in order to get votes and to keep people down. I have had a few incidences of racial prejudice, but it wasn’t enough to fuck with me. However when it did happen it stayed with me for months and some years, but things are better up here Kentucky. I know perpetrators are really unconscious to other people, because they themselves are unconscious. I don’t mean knocked out, but without empathy. One day people will understand RP’s brilliance
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Uncle Sam, gave a hand-me-out to people in order to get votes and to keep people down. I have had a few incidences of racial prejudice, but it wasn’t enough to fuck with me. However when it did happen it stayed with me for months and some years, but things are better up here Kentucky. I know perpetrators are really unconscious to other people, because they themselves are unconscious. I don’t mean knocked out, but without empathy. One day people will understand RP’s brilliance
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I wasn’t attacking you. I’m sorry for the fucked up situation down south. I too have had reverse racism in middle school, especially when all my friends in grade school were black; however nothing, it seems, compared to what you went through. Black people up here in Kentucky don’t seem to be as fucked up. I just wanted the instigators of the crime behind welfare to be the ones to take your wrath.
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I wasn’t attacking you. I’m sorry for the fucked up situation down south. I too have had reverse racism in middle school, especially when all my friends in grade school were black; however nothing, it seems, compared to what you went through. Black people up here in Kentucky don’t seem to be as fucked up. I just wanted the instigators of the crime behind welfare to be the ones to take your wrath.
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anyone else want to put false words in my mouth? I guarantee you i have more amo than you have shield. don’t start something you can’t or should never attempt in the first place let alone try to finish like prejudging me incorrectly or calling me racist. Yes Racism is damn near EVERYWHERE, but i speak from victim experience my entire fucking life where i live ( i call it the armpit of the south). White people are NOT meant to live in ms. Better to migrate to the north west.
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THIS is just BUT ONE of the reasons why I dont want to spend another 31 fucking years of my life in mississhitty. 2nd. racist nazi want to be cops that think all regular citizens are privates and they are drill sargaents and the cops can yell-talk to people at point blank range barking orders and occasionally punching or hitting them in the back of their heads FOR NO REASON. so don’t talk like you have room to judge a GOD DAMN thing about me kid until you have lived in MS for 31 YRS
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i have RECORDED on vhs and dvd blank media since 2001 EVERY single local wlbt 3 news report and at least TWICE or more weekly SOMEONE is getting robbed by a black male, SOMEONE is being home invaded by a black male. SOMEONE is being murdered by a again..BLACK male..always ages 12 to 50. Hinds county ( jackson ms) jail is CONSTANTLY having to let current offenders go free because they have BEEN running out of space. NOW YOU TELL me i’m being racist. NOW you have a clue. try again.
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it’s NOT racism when YOU ARE THE VICTIM YOUR ENTIRE LIFE FROM GRADE SCHOOL & IN JOB MARKET of racism from the other race..( so in your opinion because I’m not black & the type of person i am judGing is not white..I’M a racist? that is SO backwards. let me guess.you live up north=above tennessee & really dont have a clue what Mississhitty ( Ms) IS LIKE. fact=for the past 30 years..Jackson has become JACKTOWN for a reason. 99.99% of all VIOLENT/theft crimes are caused by BLACK MALES.
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ok..you visit JACKSON MS. Then you have room to talk about my judgement of black thugss. If..TELLING IT LIKE IT IS..is harsh, then you’re much more gullible than your words originally illustrated. yes you can thank ACORN for helping keep racism alive ( which was the SOURCE of why New York in 1975 had to accept a bail out to prevent 100% STATEWIDE bankruptcy because of the RIDICULOUS amount of Welfare approval percentages skyrocketing. thus not enough people working to pay taxes
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